As spate of West Bank terror attacks prompts Israeli crackdown, King Abdullah says international community should ‘exert all forms of pressure on Israel to halt these measures’

Adam Rasgon is the Palestinian affairs reporter at The Times of Israel

Jordanian King Abdullah and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas meeting in Amman on December 18, 2018. (Credit: Wafa)

Jordanian King Abdullah II accused Israel of carrying out an “escalation” of hostilities against the Palestinians on Tuesday while hosting Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman, Jordan’s state-run Petra news agency reported.

A string of terror attacks in the West Bank and Jerusalem last week resulted in the deaths of two Israeli soldiers and a baby boy as well as the injuries of several other Israelis. The baby was prematurely delivered after his pregnant mother was shot in one of the terror attacks.

In the wake of the attacks and amid manhunts for the suspects, Israeli security forces killed the alleged gunman from October’s deadly terror attack in the Barkan industrial zone and partially demolished his home, and killed the Palestinian man believed to have been behind the shooting which led to the baby’s death. They have also raided Ramallah several times and demolished the home of a Palestinian accused of killing an Israeli soldier in May.

Last Wednesday, security forces shot dead the suspected gunmen behind the baby’s death in a village near Ramallah after he tried to attack them, according to the Shin Bet security service.

Late Thursday, security forces also shot dead the alleged gunman from the Barkan attack after he opened fire on them, the Shin Bet said.

Meanwhile, settlers have lobbed rocks at Palestinians driving along Route 60, the West Bank’s main thoroughfare, and in some cases, targeted homes in Palestinian villages.

In the meeting with Abbas at the Basman Palace in Amman, Abdullah emphasized that the international community should pressure Israel to halt its actions, the Petra report added.

“His majesty stressed the necessity that the international community bears its responsibilities regarding the Israeli escalation and exert all forms of pressure on Israel to halt these measures that will only lead to more violence,” the report said.

Petra did not report any criticism by Abdullah of the terror attacks against Israelis last week.

Hussein al-Sheikh, a top PA official, told Palestine TV, the official PA television channel, on Monday that Jordan and Egypt had exerted pressure on Israel to stop “the dangerous escalation” in the West Bank.

Sheikh met Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman and other senior Israeli security officials on Monday to examine ways to lower tensions in the West Bank, the Kan public broadcaster reported on the same day, citing Palestinian sources.

Sheikh told Palestine TV Palestinian and Israeli officials had held a meeting Monday, without disclosing names.

“We sent a very clear message that the dangerous escalation targeting the occupied lands is unacceptable for us and that we will not stand by idly in the face of this dangerous escalation targeting our cities, villages and refugee camps,” he said, adding that the “behavior” of the IDF and settlers was “massacring” existing agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization.

During his meeting with Abbas, Abdullah also affirmed “the need to break the stalemate in the peace process” by launching “serious and effective negotiations” between Israel and the Palestinians on the basis of the two-state solution.

The last round of known peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians fell apart in May 2014. US President Donald Trump’s administration is working on a peace plan, which is expected to be released early next year.

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